Wednesday, June 22, 2011

'Jackass star Ryan Dunn was buying drinks for the entire bar... I could barely walk when I left'

-One of the last people to see Jackass star alive says Dunn drank 'at least four shots of whiskey and several beers' -Thaddeus Kalinoski says Dunn 'didn't appear drunk' when he left the bar around 2am-Says Dunn was 'the life of the party' and was 'excited about the future'

By Andrea Magrath

'He was the life of the party': Thaddeus Kalinoski, left, partied with Ryan Dunn hours before his fatal car crash in West Chester, and has revealed new details of the night

One of the last people to see Jackass star Ryan Dunn and his friend Zachary Hartwell alive has revealed new details of their drinking session at a West Chester bar before the high-speed car crash that killed them both.

Thaddeus Kalinoski spent five hours drinking with Dunn at Barnaby's, downing shots of whiskey, but says that the MTV star 'didn't appear drunk' as he left the bar.

'He was drinking quick. He ordered for the entire bar,' Kalinoski told The Daily. 'The crowd was just pouring in. It was a massive party, with people everywhere, drinking.'

Kalinsoki, 34, was a friend of the Jackass star, also 34, but had not seen each other for several years before that night. He says that Dunn drank 'at least four shots of whiskey' and 'a number of beers' on Sunday night, and recalls that he became 'the life of the party.'

Pictures from that night show a flushed-faced Dunn in high spirits with fellow revellers, and Thaddeus has also released a picture of himself and his famous friend, who leans in to kiss his cheek for the camera.

While he insists Ryan 'didn't appear drunk,' Kalinoski admits he was 'severely intoxicated.'

'I could barely walk,' he told The Daily. 'I couldn’t drive home so I passed out in my car. That’s the type of environment it became.'

'He was drinking quick': His friend reveals that Dunn was buying shots of whiskey for the entire bar hours before his death

Kalinoski says his own friends and family were concerned when they learned of the fatal crash on Monday morning.

He said: 'My phone started ringing. People thought that I was in the accident. They said, "Are you OK? Are you OK?"'

Chester County Coroner's Office have confirmed from autopsy that the cause of death for Dunn and his passenger Zachary Hartwell, 31, was 'blunt and thermal trauma due to a motor vehicle accident and that the nature of the deaths was accidental.'

The report states that the accident in Dunn's Porsche 911 was so violent that it was impossible to determine whether they died from the initial impact of the crash or the fireball.

High spirits: The 34-year-old posted this picture of himself (left) and passenger Zachary Hartwell (right) drinking with another friend at Barnaby's

Their injuries were such that Dunn was identified by his tattoos and hair, while there was a considerable delay in confirming that the passenger was Hartwell, who was also drinking at the bar on Sunday night.

A toxicology report, which will reveal the role of alcohol in the crash, will take four to six weeks.

Kalinoski says that before leaving the bar around 2am, Dunn was encouraging his fellow revellers to tune into his new TV show Proving Ground, and spoke of how proud he was of best friend and co-star Bam Margera.

'He was just so excited for the future,' Kalinoski says. 'He was talking about all of these good things that were happening - and then it’s over.'

Overcome: Dunn's best friend and Jackass co-star Bam Margera visited the crash site yesterday and paid tribute to his friend, saying that his death is 'not right'

Dunn also discussed his former addiction to painkillers with Kalinoski, telling him he 'was in a bad way' the last time they saw each other in Baltimore in 2006.

'He said back then he was having some problems. He was addicted to Vicodin and Adderall,' Kalinoski says.

Dunn's best friend Margera visited the crash site today and gave an emotional interview to local news station WPXI.

A weeping, and clearly overcome Margera said: 'It was the worst phone call I ever got in my life waking up to that. I've never lost anybody that I cared about. It's my best friend.

Wreckage: The charred remains of the Porsche 911 GT3 is towed away - a police chief told reporters this 'unbelievable' crash was the worst he'd ever seen

'He (Dunn) was the happiest person ever, the smartest guy. He had so much talent, and he had so many things going for him. This is not right, not right.'

Police say Dunn was travelling at around 130mph in a 55mph zone when his Porsche 911 flew off the road at around 2.30am on Monday morning in Pennsylvania.

West Goshen Police Chief Michael Carroll, who was involved in the accident reconstruction, described it as the worst crash he had ever seen.